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Aapravasi Ghat

Aapravasi Ghat

In the district of Port Louis, lies the 1,640 m2 site where the modern indentured labour diaspora began. In 1834, the British Government selected the island of Mauritius to be the first site for what it called ‘the great experiment’ in the use of ‘free’ labour to replace slaves. Between 1834 and 1920, almost half a million indentured labourers arrived from India at Aapravasi Ghat to work in the sugar plantations of Mauritius, or to be transferred to Reunion Island, Australia, southern and eastern Africa or the Caribbean. The buildings of Aapravasi Ghat are among the earliest explicit manifestations of what was to become a global economic system and one of the greatest migrations in history.

Outstanding Universal Value

Brief synthesis

Located on the bay of Trou Fanfaron, in the capital of Port-Louis, the Aapravasi Ghat is the remains of an immigration depot, the site from where modern indentured labour Diaspora emerged. The Depot was built in 1849 to receive indentured labourers from India, Eastern Africa, Madagascar, China and Southeast Asia to work on the island’s sugar estates as part of the 'Great Experiment’. This experiment was initiated by the British Government, after the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1834, to demonstrate the superiority of ‘free’ over slave labour in its plantation colonies. The success of the 'Great Experiment' in Mauritius led to its adoption by other colonial powers from the 1840s, resulting in a world-wide migration of more than two million indentured labourers, of which Mauritius received almost half a million.

The buildings of Aapravasi Ghat are among the earliest explicit manifestations of what would become a global economic system. The Aapravasi Ghat site stands as a major historic testimony of indenture in the 19th century and is the sole surviving example of this unique modern diaspora. It represents not only the development of the modern system of contractual labour, but also the memories, traditions and values that these men, women and children carried with them when they left their countries of origin to work in foreign lands and subsequently bequeathed to their millions of descendants for whom the site holds great symbolic meaning.

Criterion (vi): Aapravasi Ghat, as the first site chosen by the British Government in 1834 for the ‘great experiment’ in the use of indentured, rather than slave labour, is strongly associated with memories of almost half a million indentured labourers moving from India to Mauritius to work on sugar cane plantations or to be transshipped to other parts of the world.

Integrity

The setting of the property was altered by the construction of a road that cuts across it. At present, less than half of the Immigration Depot area as it existed in 1865, survives. However, original structural key components still stand. These include the remains of the sheds for the housing of the immigrants, kitchens, lavatories, a building used as a hospital block and highly symbolical flight of 14 steps upon which all immigrants had to lay foot before entering the immigration depot. However, the property is vulnerable to the development in the buffer zone, some of which is unregulated.

Authenticity

The property represents the place where indentured immigrants first arrived in Mauritius. Archival and architectural drawings of the complex at the time of its alteration in 1864-1865 give evidence of its purpose as an immigration depot. The surviving buildings reveal significant aspects of the history of the indentured labour system and the functioning of the immigration depot.

While there was little detailed documentation of conservation work undertaken prior to 2003 , the more recent work, including the removal of the undesirable additions of the 1990s, has been based on archaeological investigation and detailed archival documentation, including the complete set of drawings of the Immigration Depot at the time of the complex’s remodelling in 1864-1865.

Prior to the launching of the recent conservation work and restoration work, two technical reports for the conservation were prepared respectively in December 2003 and May 2004 by ICOMOS-India. Complete photo documentation as well as architectural documentation of the site were undertaken before initiating the conservation works and during the conservation process. These were compiled as part of the periodic conservation reports of the property.

Protection and management requirements

The Aapravasi Ghat site is owned by the Ministry of Arts and Culture. The property is protected as National Heritage under the National Heritage Fund Act 2003 and the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund Act 2001. The Buffer Zones are regulated by the Municipal Council of Port-Louis under the Local Government Act. Day-to-day management of the site is the responsibility of the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund. The Board of the Trust Fund consists of representatives of key institutions such as the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Arts and Culture, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, the Ministry of Tourism and the National Heritage Fund. A technical team of the Aapravasi Ghat Trust Fund reviews all conservation works at the site with International experts.

The Management Plan of the Aapravasi Ghat site (2006-2011) addresses the strategy and the vision for the long term sustainable development of the property. One of the key objectives expresses the need to put legislative back-up in place for the Buffer Zones and to establish a clear management structure. It involves setting up a legal protection for the Buffer Zones through the promulgation of a Planning Policy Guidance. The objective is to orientate development towards the valorisation and revitalization of the area, which holds attributes associated to the outstanding universal value of the property. The key objectives also include the development of a comprehensive Conservation Plan, the need to foster links with the local community in the Buffer Zones, the implementation of a Visitor Management Plan and the setting up of an interpretation centre for the property. Research objectives focus on the Buffer Zones and on intangible heritage with a view to produce an inventory of intangible heritage related to indenture.

In order to protect the setting and context of the property, it will be necessary in the medium term for progress to be made with putting in place adequate tools to facilitate the management and conservation of the property and its buffer zone and to allow engagement with inhabitants of the surrounding town in order that the relationship between the property and its buffer zones is better understood.